I always enjoying dreaming up birthday dinner menus. I always ask after my guest’s favorite dishes, give them a bit of a twist and add something new. The recipes are my gift, along with my best wishes for a wonderful new year. My most recent menu included my guest’s favorite salad from a restaurant that we both love, along with a re-creation of one of my own favorite restaurant dishes, crabmeat-stuffed sole.

Stuffed sole is a simple and elegant dish, and it has the benefit of being well-priced. Sole is also low in mercury and has a pleasant, mild taste. If crab meat isn’t your thing, or isn’t in your budget, you can always use a spinach stuffing. Be sure to select fillets that aren’t too thick, or they will break up as they cook after rolling. This dish works well for large gatherings; I like to make one pan each of crab- and spinach-stuffed fillets, and you can also substitute flounder for the fish.

The next day I was pleasantly surprised to find that the fish was even better left over. I poured the remaining sauce Meuniere over the fish, covered the dish and refrigerated. The flavors had time to meld, and the sauce kept the fish from drying out. After a quick reheat in the microwave on 50 percent power (to keep from overcooking the fish), it made for a tasty lunch the next day.

Do it right, and don’t use fake crab. Take a tip from my discovery and make a double batch so that you’ll have leftovers for the next day, or give them to your birthday guest along with the recipe as a little “lagniappe,” or something extra.

Crab-stuffed sole with sauce Meuniere

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 tablespoons minced red bell pepper

2 tablespoons minced poblano pepper

2 tablespoons minced shallot

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 cup lump crabmeat, picked through

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, plus 2 tablespoons

2-4 thin slices lemon

salt and white pepper

paprika

2 sole fillets, 5-6 ounces

2 tablespoons plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

4 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1 shallot, minced

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the peppers, shallot, and 1 teaspoon of minced garlic. Saute until softened, just a couple of minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly. In a medium bowl, combine cooled vegetables, crabmeat, and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. Season crab mixture with salt and white pepper, to taste.

If the fillets are very wide, slice them lengthwise down the center. Season sole fillets with salt and pepper on both sides. Spoon crabmeat mixture down the center of the fillets and roll lengthwise into bundles. Use a toothpick to secure the ends so they don’t unroll while baking. Place sole fillet bundles, seam-side down, in a lightly greased 8-inch square baking dish. Top each with a lemon slice, and sprinkle lightly with paprika. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and registers 140 on an instant-read thermometer.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter begins to foam, add the parsley, garlic, lemon juice and Worcestershire. Cook for 2 minutes until slightly reduced. Add the cream and cook, whisking, for 15 seconds. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat down to low and whisk in the remaining butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, adding each piece before the previous one has been completely incorporated.

Continue until all the butter is incorporated and the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Immediately remove the pan from the heat to prevent the sauce from getting too hot and breaking.

Pour warm sauce over the fish and serve immediately.

Spinach stuffing

1/4 cup chopped mushrooms

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 bunches spinach, washed and dried

1/4 cup walnuts

3-5 cloves garlic, peeled

1/3 pound feta cheese

1 egg

pinch nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

paprika

Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When the mushrooms are cooked through, add the spinach in handfuls. Stir; as the spinach wilts, add more. When all the spinach is just cooked through, remove pot from heat and proceed with the next step.

Pulse the garlic and walnuts in the food processor, scraping down the bowl as necessary.

Drain the spinach, and add to the mix along with the mushrooms. Pulse between additions, and add more spinach when you've created space. Crumble in the feta, salt, nutmeg and pulse again.